Ihstep-arch support



W. M. SCHULL.

INSTEP flRCH SUPPORT. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20, 1915.

Patentefl Aug. 15, 1916.

at Fig. 1.

WILLIAM M. SCHOLL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS;

INSTEP-ARCH SUPPORT.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

Application filed March 20, 1915. Serial No. 15,958.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM. M. SoHoLn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and uset'ul Improvements in instep-Arch Supports,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in instep arch supports, and insome of its features more particularly to multiple-plate arch supports.

Que of the objects of my invention is to provide an arch supportparticuluarly adapted for the relief of breaking down of the transversearch of the ball of the human foot, and to make the support readilyadjustable for variation in the curvatures of the elevation afiorded forsupporting the transverse arch.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sliding-plate archsupport construction in which the distribution of weight to the mainarch support structure and the transverse arch-supporting curvature mayautomatically be varied under different conditions of use. i p

A. further object of my invention is to provide a construction which issimple, efficaclone and comfortable-in use, and that may be made at lowexpense.

in the drawings wherein 1 have illustrated an embodiment of my inventionFig ure 1 is a bottom plan view of the instep arch embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section on line 2-2 of Fig.

1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 33 F 1g. 4 1s atransversesection on line 4a of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 13 a detail section on line 55of Fig.1.

In said drawings is a metal base plateand 11 a longitudinal arch plate,it bein my preference for some of the purposes 0 my invention to employtwo superimposed plates of which the lower, or base plate is the longer,and the arch platethe wider. The base plate 10 preferably spans from apoint 12 adjacent to the heel of the human foot to a point 13 just inrear of the head of the metatarsal bones of the foot, spanning over theshoe-shank. Where a supplementary arch plate is to be used, this baseplate 10 may be relatively narrow .at its waist and heel. Such baseplate has a general longitudinal curvature somewhat less than the normalcurvature of the foot. In the specific construction shown I prefer thatthe base plate shall be relatively narrow at its waist and be graduallyconcaved transversely, as shown at 10. into arcuate or semicircular formforrigidity at its waist. The plate 10 is preferably broadened at itsfront end to form a head 14; affording a wide substantial bearing belowthe metatarsal bones and preferably extending forward somewhat in theform of a central tongue 15, the metal being cut away somewhat, as at16, at the inner side of the tongue 15, to form a joint-receiving recesswhile, if desired, a similar recess 16' may be formed on the other sideof the axial line of the tongue.

In the portion of the arch structure that supports the part of the footjust back of the heads of the metatarsal bones (such portion of thestructure, in this instance, being the base plate 10), I provide a humpor elevation 20 shown in Figs. 2 and 1, adapted to give support to thetransverse arch of the foot. It is highly important, in manyinstances,that the arch or hump aiiforded shall be accurately titted torelieve-pressure under one or more of the metatarsal bones between thefirst and lifthmetatarsals, andto provide for easy fitting of the hump20 to the foot of the individual wearer, either by variation in itsgeneral curvature or by exaggeration of curvature along the line of anyone of the metatarsal bones that the hump underlies, I provide in thetransversely arched portion of the plate, within the locus of the hump20, slots 21, preferably wholly confined by the plate, has dividing thehump into a plurality of relatively-narrow strips 22. In adjusting thearch to the individualuse'rs needs any one or more of these strips maybe particularly distorted to secure just the elevation that is desiredat just the location where the extra height is needed. These slots 21preferably radiate somewhat from their inner ends outwardly, forapproximately uniform distribution of the metal in the several strips22.

The arch plate 11 I preferably make of general curvatures longitudinallyand transversely to conform to the under surface of the shank orwaist-portion of the foot, preferably making said arch plate to extendfrom a rear bearing edge 25 that is in front of the rear bearing edge 12of the base plate, forward to a front bearing edge 26 that is located,and appropriately curved, approximately to conform to the rear portionof the base of the hump 20. "lrahsversely the arch plate 11 ispreferably curved up at its edge into a side wing 27, conformingapproxlmately to the inside curve of the instep. I prefer that the twoplates be connected at their rear ends as at 30, as by rivets 30, 31 andbe free for relative sliding movement at their front contacting edgeswhere the edge 26 of the arch plate bears upon the upper surface of theplate 10 at approximately the base of the hump 20.

The structure thus described is, in commercial practice covered with theusual leather cover piece 32, appropriately shaped to fit in the heeland shank portion of the shoe, so as to position the metal platesproperly. To assemble the parts in the desired relation I preferably runthe rivet 30 through all three plies of the structure, as indicated inFig. 5, but retain the rivet 31 local to the two metal plates 10 and 11,and rivet the front end of plate 11 only, as at 33, to the cover piece32.

In operation it will be understood that the base plate 10, curving overthe shank of the shoe, tends to throw the weight of the wearer on theheel and ball portion of the shoe, spanning the shank, but this plate isflexible and may readily yield as to its long longitudinal arch. Theupper plate 11, also flexible, but preferably in less degrees than thelower plate may extend longitudinally, the weight of the wearer imposedon this upper plate being transmitted to the lower plate between theends of the latter, and the upper plate slipping relative to the lowerplate at one end, due to their difference in extension. It will beobserved that as the entire structure tends to expand, the upper plate,higher arched than the lower plate tends to slide its forward end 26forwardly up the hump 20, and while the action of .the structure as anentirety is easy and it has a considerable capability of yielding underthe weight of the wearer, the sliding tendency of the forward end of theplate 11 is restricted by the curvature of the hump. Thus the tendencyof the arch plate 11 to carry the weight of the wearer at the shankportion of the foot rather than on the ball and heel only, is enhancedsomewhatabove the resistance that is afforded by the normalspring-resistance of the metal, this increase in resistance being due tothe relation be tween the sliding forward portion of the plate 11 andthe hump-formation of the forward portion of the base plate 10. Also itwill be observed that as the forward end 261 of the upper plate doesslide forward with respect to the hump 20' of the base plate, it

ture bein cut away under the great-toe joint and pre erably also underthe small-toe joint, leaves these parts free to function substantiallyunaffected by the presence of the hump in plate 10, and I prefer, tothis end, that the leather cover piece be recessed.

as at 16 and skived thin, to give the greatest freedom to the great-toejoint.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In an arch support, ametallic plate adapted to underlie the-anterior portion of themetatarsal bones in rear of the heads thereof, said plate having atransverse hump plurality of strips adapted to be shaped individually.

3. In an arch support, the combination of a base plate adapted to extendfrom a bearing point adjacent the heel of the foot to a bearing pointadjacent the heads .of the metatarsal bones, said plate having at itsforward end a hump to support the transverse arch, and an arch plate,carried by said base plate, said arch plate shaped to conform to thewaist portion of the plantar surface of the human foot, and bearing atboth ends upon'said'base plate, the bearing of'said arch plate upon saidbase plate at the front end being adjacent the base of the hump of thebase plate.

4. In an arch support, the combination of a base plate adapted to extendfrom a bearing adjacent the heel of the wearer to a bearingapproximately conforming to the heads of the metatarsal bones, said baseplate having a hump adjacent its forward end to support the transversearch of the foot, and an arch plate secured to said base plate at itsrear end and at its front end bearing on the arch plate slidingly atsubstantially the base of said hump, said arch plate having alongitudinal curvature in excess of the cur- V'ature of the base plate.

5. In an archsupport, a base plate, adapted to bear at its ends in ashoe and to span the shoe shank, and an arch plate, secured at one endto the base plate and at its other end free to slide thereon, said baseplate being narrow and curved to arcuate cross section at its waist andhaving at its forward end a transverse hump to underlie the centralmetatarsal bones.

,toe joint.

6 In an arch support, a plate having a transverse hump tovv underlie thecentral metatarsal 'bones, and a cover piece con-' nected with saidplate, both said plate .and the cover 7. In an arch support,. a metallicplate having a transverse curvature in excess of the curvature of thehuman foot and slots, terminating within the confines of the plate,

extending. in a generally longitudinal direction through said curvatureand dividing the same into a plurality of strips adapted to be shapedindividually.

8. As an article of manufacture, a leather cover piece adapted to fit inthe heel and piece cut away beneath the greatnesses.

shank portions of a shoe, and a metal plate secured thereto adapted tounderlie the anterior portion of the middle metatarsal bone, said. platehaving a hump raised in the portion thereof to lie in rear of the headof said metatarsal bone, and said hump portion having thereinlongitudinal slots having their. front ends lying in a line bowed 'for-Wardly in plan.

In testimony whereo1 I hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing wit- WILLIAM M. SOHOLL. In the presence of- Gno. T. MAY,J12,

MARY Y. ALLEN.

